Black Friday is the day that traditional retailers turn a profit (i.e. numbers turn black from red) after being in the red throughout the year. For the last few years with the growth of Internet and online buying Monday has been named Cyber Monday.This year seems to be a decisive turning point. According to ShopperContinue reading “Black Friday is in the Red as Cyber Monday posts 21% growth”
Author Archives: StratoServe
Michigan to start online lottery sales: what effect on consumers and retailers?
Ever since Detroit, Michigan declared bankruptcy – one tends to feel concerned about Michigan and its finances. The recent announcement that Michigan will start selling lottery tickets online by 2014,seems like a good move from a state revenue point of view. In fact, states like Illinois and New York also want to move lotteries onlineContinue reading “Michigan to start online lottery sales: what effect on consumers and retailers?”
B2B suppliers tell you: Do you listen? Obamacare website and the BP oil spill
The B2B blame game between contractors and BP during the oil spill and the blame game between the IT contractors and the Federal HHS is eerily similar. B2B suppliers tell you- but do you listen? is the question to ask. The prepared remarks of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for her testimony tomorrow (October 30) areContinue reading “B2B suppliers tell you: Do you listen? Obamacare website and the BP oil spill”
Digital Expectations: being Government,non-profit or a small business is no excuse
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embedwww&videoId=politics/2013/10/22/ac-gupta-sebelius-obama-didnt-know-about-problems.cnn&contentId=politics/2013/10/22/ac-gupta-sebelius-obama-didnt-know-about-problems.cnn The problems with the Obamacare website forced the President himself to address the issues yesterday of… a website? Just a few years ago- organizations including Government, non-profit and small businesses used to wonder if they should have a website. In teaching and learning, students would complain loudly about the problems of online learning platformsContinue reading “Digital Expectations: being Government,non-profit or a small business is no excuse”
Fitch warning : why B2C and B2B would react differently to a 100 point credit score drop
http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/3000208085/code/cnbcplayershare/&startTime=18/&endTime=57 If you got a message, in the US, from one of the B2C credit scoring agencies like Experian, TransUnion or Equifax- that you needed to pay some bills else your credit score would decline by 100 points… you will take take notice. You'd be even more alarmed if you had a perfect 850 creditContinue reading “Fitch warning : why B2C and B2B would react differently to a 100 point credit score drop”
Not all Government websites down: is it the Federal Procurement System?
The US Federal Government is the world's largest B2B buyer and given that (a) not all Federal websites are down and (b) the healthcare.gov (Obamacare) website is having problems suggests that there is a supply chain and specifically a Federal procurement system problem at work. As the unbelievable drama in Washington DC plays out andContinue reading “Not all Government websites down: is it the Federal Procurement System?”
Best Global Brands 2013: Coca Cola replaced by Apple but should Google be no. 1?
As a Coca Cola fan this blog feels bad that the Coca Cola brand has slipped to the no. 3 spot in the 2013 Interbrand rankings after reigning for 13 years as the top brand in the world. If you think about it , it is in these 13 years that the Internet has takenContinue reading “Best Global Brands 2013: Coca Cola replaced by Apple but should Google be no. 1?”
Why did Grand Theft Auto V Video Game sell over $1Billion in 3 days?
The runaway success of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA-V) as the biggest ever entertainment product begs the question why ? An earlier post on Entertainment:video game industry three times music and double movie industry, had proved popular, but the potential role of video games in promoting violence had reduced the enthusiasm of this blog fromContinue reading “Why did Grand Theft Auto V Video Game sell over $1Billion in 3 days?”
US poverty rises: a focus on “good jobs” is needed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640 Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy US poverty has risen from 46.2 million in 2011 to 46.5 million in 2012 and is at 15% of the population. Poverty in 2012 was defined as a family income of $23,494 for a family of four. Clearly, the bottom of theContinue reading “US poverty rises: a focus on “good jobs” is needed”
Evoked Brand Set: The easy way of surrogate branding through better search ranking
The “evoked set” is the set of brands you think of when you have a buying need. If you are in the market for a car it’s very likely that you have 3-4 car brands (Ford,GM,Toyota etc.) in mind as you start checking them out. In the old days, well let’s say till 1990’s, only big brands could afford to spend those millions on TV and traditional media advertising to build up a particular brand. So if you were Ford Motor Company , your goal was to get into the evoked set and have the customer visit the dealer showroom. To achieve this goal all kinds of advertising including sports sponsorships, community events, newspaper and magazine advertising, radio and billboards was supposed to help.